Thursday 01/27/2000
Jan. 27, 2000
Clemson vs. Duke Cameron Indoor Stadium Saturday, January 29, 2000 (4:05 PM)
Head Coach: Larry Shyatt (College of Wooster ’73) 27-27 at Clemson, 2nd year 46-36 overall, 3rd year 0-2 vs. Duke
Head Coach: Mike Krzyzewski (Army ’69) 484-157 at Duke 20th year 557-216 Overall, 25th year 30-10 vs. Clemson
Series Record: Duke leads 84-27 at Clemson: Duke leads 29-20 at Duke: Duke leads 48-4 at Cameron: Duke leads 46-4 Last Year: Duke won at Clemson 82-60 Duke won at Duke, 92-65 Television: JP (Tim Brant and Dan Bonner)
Quick Facts
Clemson vs. NC State Review Four Tigers scored in double figures and the Clemson defense held NC State to 30 percent shooting, as Clemson broke a six-game losing streak with a 59-42 win over NC State in Littlejohn Coliseum on January 27th. Clemson had been 0-5 in the ACC prior to the game.
Will Solomon scored 15 points to lead the Tigers in scoring, but it was the play of freshman point guard Edward Scott that provided the spark for Clemson. Coming off the bench and seeing his first playing time in four games, Scott scored 10 points, had three rebounds and five assists. He also had two steals for his 34 minutes of play. Most importantly, he held Justin Gainey to no points and no assists in 27 minutes of play. Gainey had lit up Clemson for 28 points on 7-7 shooting the last time the two teams met.
Adam Allenspach added 12 points, while Andrius Jurkunas had 10. It was the second straight double figure scoring game for Jurkunas, the first time this year he has put back to back double figure scoring games together. Chucky Gilmore added 10 rebounds for the Tigers, who are ranked 14th in the country in rebounding.
Clemson’s defense held NC State to just 42 points, its starters to just 15 points. Anthony Grundy scored nine, but Damien Wilkens, Damon Thornton and Kenny Inge all scored just two points apiece. Gainey was shut out. Only the three-point shooting of Archie Miller kept the Pack in the game. He was 5-9 on three-point goals.
Both teams struggled offensively in the first half. The Tigers jumped out to an 8-0 lead to open the game in the first three minutes. Clemson held the Pack to five points in the first 12 and a half minutes, as NC State made just two of its first 15 shots. Clemson did not take advantage as Clemson went 8:34 without scoring at one point. Clemson held a 23-17 lead at halftime.
Clemson brought the lead to 34-21 at 13:31 left on a layup by Adam Allenspach. But, Miller started hitting three-point goals and brought the Pack back to 42-38 with 7:36 left on the fourth three of the half by Miller. But, that was the last field goal he would make. Clemson then went on a 17-4 run to end the game. Solomon scored seven points down the stretch.
Clemson won the rebounding battle 40-36 and had 15 assists and 15 turnovers. It was the first time in eight games that Clemson had at least the same amount of assists as turnovers. NC State had a 5/19 assist/turnover ratio. The Tigers were 14-27 from the field in the second half.
Solomon Plays Well vs. Duke Last year Clemson guard Will Solomon played his best basketball against Duke, the best team in the nation for 99 percent of the season. Solomon had 19 points in 36 minutes against Duke on January 20, his first career start. Duke was ranked #2 in the nation entering the game. He hit 8-15 shots from the field and made a pair of three-point goals in the game at Littlejohn Coliseum. In the game at Clemson he was even more efficient on a per minute basis. Solomon scored 17 points in 23 minutes on 7-12 shooting against Duke, ranked #1 in the nation at the time. He made 3-5 three-point goals, had three rebounds and a season high tying four steals.
For the season, Solomon scored 36 points in 59 minutes against the Blue Devils, hit 5-13 threepoint goals, had seven rebounds and six steals. Solomon scored more points against Duke than any other ACC team last year.
Tigers Face Buckner For 122 consecutive games between 1994-98 Greg Buckner was in the Clemson starting lineup, the longest streak in Clemson history. Buckner finished his career fourth in school history in scoring with 1754 points. He tied the school record for double figure scoring games with 97 and also finished third in playing time, third in steals and second in field goal made.
This Saturday, his brother, Andre, will be playing against the Tigers. Andre Buckner is a reserve guard for Duke and the freshman has played 38 minutes in nine games so far this year. He has scored 10 points and has five assists and just two turnovers as a point guard. He has made 2-3 three-point goals and has five rebounds.
Older brother Greg is doing well with the Dallas Mavericks of the NBA. He has played in the last 10 games for the Mavs and has averaged 3.3 points and 3.4 rebounds. He has averaged 19.3 minutes per game and is a big reason Dallas has won five of its last seven. He had a season high eight points, including two field goals in the last two minutes in a 99-91 win over Detroit on Jan. 23rd.
Clemson in Durham Clemson has a 4-48 lifetime record at Duke. Clemson lost its first 28 games at Duke before finally breaking through during the 1975-76 season, Bill Foster’s first year. Clemson won that game 90-89.
After the game Foster noticed that sports information director Bob Bradley was especially excited after the victory. “I didn’t understand why Bob Bradley was hugging me until he said we had never won at Duke,” said Foster years later. “He had seen a lot of those losses. I really didn’t know it until after the game.” Clemson made it two in a row in Durham under Bill Foster in Tree Rollins’ senior year, 1976-77, a 80-73 Tiger victory.
Foster has three of Clemson’s four wins at Duke and his third was one of the more unlikely Clemson victories in history. Playing a game on February 29th is unlikely enough since the date only occurs every four years, but Clemson entered the game on an 11-game ACC losing streak. Clemson had not won a league game since January 11 and Duke was ranked 15th in the nation and was a lock for the NCAA Tournament. On top of that, it was senior night at Duke.
Clemson played as well as it could play and had a 76-61 lead with six minutes left. A young freshman named Horace Grant had a perfect game, 6-6 from the field and 4-4 from the foul line. But, Johnny Dawkins led a furious comeback and outscored Clemson 15-1 down the stretch. Clemson’s only score was a Mike Eppley free throw.
Duke had a final shot in the final moments, but Dawkins shot from the right corner missed and Clemson had the victory. It would be the last ACC game for Foster, who went to restart the University of Miami’s basketball program the following year.
Clemson’s Last Win in Durham January 4, 1995 at Durham, NC Clemson 75, Duke 70
Clemson’s most recent victory at Duke was just about as unlikely as Foster’s victory in 1984. It was the ACC opener for both schools and the first time in eight years (1986-87) that Clemson had won its ACC opener. It was just the second time in 12 years that Duke had lost its ACC opener, and just the sixth loss for the Blue Devils in their last 88 home games. Clemson had not won at Duke in 11 seasons and the Blue Devils were ranked ninth in the nation entering the game.
Rayfield Ragland scored 16 points in the last 16 minutes of the game, 11 in the last five, to lead five Clemson double figure scorers in a 75-70Clemson held the lead for exactly 32 of the 40 minutes, including all but one of the media timeouts. The Tigers had a lead of 45-33 early in the second half, but Duke cut the margin two at 60-58 with 3:57 left. Duke had the ball with a chance to tie or take the lead with a three-pointer, but the Clemson defense responded and Duke missed from the outside. Rayfield Ragland then hit a jumper and a three-pointer to bring the Tigers back to a seven-point margin and Duke never got closer than five points.
Supporting Ragland were Merl Code with 13 points and nine assists, Bill Harder with a season high 12 points, Greg Buckner with 11 points, six rebounds and three steals and Bruce Martin with 11 points, all in the first half. All seven Tigers who played hit at least one three-point shot, as Clemson made 10-15 threes in the game and shot 55.3 percent overall. Clemson hit 55.3 from the field, 66.7 on three-pointers and 76 percent from the foul line. Duke shot 41 percent from the field, 37 percent on threes and 83 percent from the line. Clemson had just 10 turnovers in the game.
Clemson’s defense was outstanding against the Duke post players. Cherokee Parks and Erik Meeks were a combined 5-10 from the field and did not make a field goal the last 32 minutes of the game.
Clemson vs. Duke Series Duke has beaten Clemson six consecutive games, four of the six are by seven points or less. The Blue Devils swept Clemson in 1998-99 and for three games in 1997-98. The three losses were by a combined seven points two years ago. Clemson nearly overcame a 24-point deficit in the second half before falling at Duke in 1997-98, 81-80. Clemson had a pair of shots to win inside the last five seconds against the #2 ranked Blue Devils.
Duke has a 84-28 lead in the series, including a 48-4 margin in Durham. Coach K has a 17-2 record against Clemson in games at Duke and is 30-10 against the Tigers overall.
The Tigers do have 11 wins over top 20 Duke teams, more than any other opponent. Clemson’s last win over a top 20 Duke team came on 1-7-97, an 86-82 overtime victory at Clemson. Duke was 10th in the AP poll heading into the game.
Clemson defeated Duke three years in a row in the 1988-89-90 era. All the wins over those eventual Final Four Duke teams came at Littlejohn Coliseum, including a 97-93 Tiger win in 1990 that clinched the ACC regular season championship for Clemson. Clemson’s 70-49 victory over a sixth ranked Duke team is Clemson’s largest margin of victory ever over a ranked team.
Duke Has 44-game Home Winning Streak Duke has won 44 consecutive home games, the second longest home winning streak in the nation. Only Utah’s 47-game consecutive home wins is higher. Cincinnati has a 40-gamer. During the 44-game winning streak, including eight this season, Duke has had just six games decided by seven points or less and just seven by 10 or less. Two of the six games decided by seven or less have come against Clemson. In 1996-97, Duke beat the Tigers 84-77 in Durham. Clemson was ranked eighth in the nation and Duke was sixth entering that game.
In 1997-98, Clemson came the closest of any team to beating Duke during this streak. The Blue Devils stopped the Tigers, 81-80. Terrell McIntyre and Iker Iturbe both had shots to win the game within the last four seconds of play. This year, Duke defeated DePaul at home 84-83 and defeated NC State in overtime, 92-88.
Winning in the Triangle Over the years Clemson’s basketball team has viewed traveling to the North Carolina Triangle like sailors view boating through the Bermuda Triangle. Clemson had won just nine regular season games in 135 contests at North Carolina, N.C. State and Duke heading into the 1994-95 season. Since that year Clemson has a 4-12 record at Duke, N.C. State and North Carolina combined, so the mark is now 13-135 at those three sites combined. That includes a 20-point loss at North Carolina this year.
The 1994-95 season was the first time in Clemson history that the Tigers had won their first two games in the Triangle and it was just the second time Clemson had won at least two games in the Triangle in the same year. Clemson also won at Duke and N.C. State in 1976-77, Tree Rollins’ senior season. Clemson has never won at North Carolina and obviously has never swept all three games in the North Carolina Triangle.
Clemson’s overall record in the North Carolina Triangle, including conference tournments (ACC or Southern) is now is 22-155. Cliff Ellis won in the Triangle just twice in 30 games, both at N.C. State (1986-87 and 1993-94, his last appearance in the triangle). Bill Foster has five of the 13 regular season Clemson wins in the Triangle. Rick Barnes had four triangle wins in his four years as head coach.
Clemson has a lifetime record of 9-41 at N.C. State, 4-48 at Duke and 0-46 at North Carolina in regular season play. The list below does not count ACC or Southern Conference Tournament games played in Raleigh. Clemson has won nine games in conference tournaments in Raleigh, including its most successful Southern Conference and ACC Tournaments in history. Clemson won the Southern Conference Tournament in Raleigh in 1939, its only conference tournament championship in history. In 1962 the Tigers advanced to the finals of the ACC Tournament at the Reynolds Coliseum with victories over N.C. State and Duke. It is Clemson’s only appearance in the ACC Tournament Championship game.
Clemson’s Regular Season Wins in the North Carolina Triangle (At UNC, N.C. State or Duke)
Ranked Road Win for Tigers Clemson has 10 wins over ranked ACC teams in its history. Duke is ranked third in both polls this week. Clemson has three wins over ranked teams on the road in the last six years with the last coming two seasons ago at Maryland and at Virginia.
Clemson never beat a ranked ACC team on the road until the 1975-76 season, Bill Foster’s first year at Clemson. He actually defeated two top five ACC teams on the road in his first two ACC road games, winning at fifth-ranked Wake Forest and second-ranked Maryland. Foster has five of Clemson’s 10 wins over ranked ACC teams on the road in school history.
Clemson Wins over Ranked ACC Teams on the Road
Holt Makes First Start Walker Holt made his first career start at Maryland. The original walk-on who is now on scholarship for this season was the first original walk-on to start a game for the Tigers since the 1985-86 season when Jeff Holstein started at Georgia Tech.
Holt, a freshman from Greensboro, NC did not score in the game in 25 minutes (he took just two shots), but did have a season high five rebounds and three assists with just one turnover. He had a career high 12 points on 5-7 shooting against Appalachian State on January 19. He had those 12 points in 20 minutes. He had not scored over three points in a game all year prior to that contest.
Holt’s performance against Appalachian State included a midcourt shot at the end of the half that swished through the nets, the longest shot made by a Clemson player in the history of Littlejohn Coliseum. That fact is according to longtime Clemson SID Bob Bradley and 32-year play-play man Jim Phillips, who have seen almost every game in the history of the Coliseum. Wake Forest’s Rod Griffin made a shot just inside midcourt against the Tigers in 1978, but that is the closest long bomb anyone can remember.
Holt’s improvement could be traced to the “buzz cut” his teammates gave him on the road trip to North Carolina on January 5. Holt had long curly locks prior to that and the trim has had the opposite affect it had on Sampson (not Ralph, but mythology).
Since he had the locks cut, Holt has played 83 minutes, has shot 6 of 11 from the field, including 3-5 on three-point shots. He is 2- 2 from the line, has 12 rebounds and eight assists to go with 17 points. Prior to the haircut, Holt had played 88 minutes in 10 games, scored just four points, had eight assists and nine rebounds. He was 2-9 from the field.
Jurkunas Has Back to Back Double Figure Games Clemson senior Andrius Jurkunas had one of his most productive games as a Clemson Tiger in the 74-62 loss to Maryland on January 22. The native of Lithuania whose Clemson career dates to November 26, 1995, scored 16 points on 4-6 shooting. He also had 3-4 three-point goal successes and pulled in seven rebounds. he led the Tigers in scoring and rebounding, the first time he has done that in the same game.
Jurkunas point total tied for his second highest ever in an ACC game. His ACC his is 18 against Maryland at Clemson on January 24, 1999. He also scored 16 as a freshman against Virginia and Duke in consecutive games in 1996. Jurkunas career high regardless of competition is 19, against Miami (FL) and Georgia during the 1995-96 season. The Georgia performance came in the NCAA Tournament in New Mexico and all 19 points were scored in the second half, the most points scored by a Clemson player in one half of an NCAA Tournament game.
Jurkunas continued his fine play against NC State with 10 points on 4-8 shooting. He had three assists and just one turnover in his 38 minutes and also had a pair of steals.
What Clemson has Done Well
Where Clemson has Struggled
Solomon Leads Clemson in Scoring and Assists Will Solomon leads the Tigers in scoring and assists per game, a rarity in college basketball. In fact, only two players in the last 30 years have done that over the course of a season for Clemson. Chris Whitney led the Tigers in both areas in 1992-93 and Terrell McIntyre did it last year. Prior to that you have to go back to Butch Zatezalo in 1968-69 to find the last time a Tiger led the Team in scoring and assists in the same season.
Solomon Three-point Goal Streak at 23 Clemson guard Will Solomon has made at least one three-point goal in each game this year and has a streak of 23 straight with at least one three-point goal over two years. This is the third longest streak of its kind in Clemson history. His streak started with the last four games of 1998-99, all NIT games, and has continued through the first 16 games this year.
Terrell McIntyre holds the record with 26 games in a row set over the 1997-98 and 1998-99 seasons. Chris Whitney, now with the Washington Wizzards, had a 25-game streak, the last 25 games of his career.
In fact, Whitney and McIntyre have the top four streaks in Clemson history. So, Solomon is just the third different Tiger in history to have a streak of at least 20 in a row. Solomon has 82 three-point goals for his career, 11th in Clemson history. Solomon tied the Clemson single game record for three-point goals with eight against Virginia. He had at least three three-point goals in each of the seven games in the month of December has had multiple three-point goals in 15 of the first 19 games this season.
Clemson Consecutive Game Streak with a Three-Point Goal
Solomon Leads ACC in Scoring, Minutes, 3-Pt Goals Will Solomon leads the ACC in three categories. His 20.8 scoring average is best in the league and 8th in the nation (through games of Jan. 17) , while his 3.1 three-point goals per game also is first in the league and in the top 25 in the nation. Solomon also leads the ACC in playing time, averaging 35.5 minutes per game.
Solomon is attempting to become just the fourth Tiger in history to lead the ACC in scoring. Butch Zatezalo paced the league twice, with a 23.0 average in 1967-68 and with a 25.8 average in 1968-69. He did not lead the league as a senior. Horace Grant led the league as a senior in 1986-87 with a 21.0 scoring mark, while Terrell McIntyre led the conference last year with a 17.9 figure.
Solomon’s 20.8 scoring average is the highest by a Clemson player Horace Grant averaged 21.0 in 1986-87. The Clemson record for a season is a 28.3 figure by Bill Yarborough in 1954-55. Yarborough did not lead the league that year because of Virginia’s Buzz Willinson’s 32.1 average, a figure that is still the ACC record.
Five Tigers Have Missed 24 Games due to Injury Clemson has not had a full compliment of scholarship players for a single practice, never mind a game this year. That certainly has hindered Clemson’s preparation for games, as walk-ons, managers and even graduate student manager Bruce Martin have helped out in practice. Six different players have missed action this year for a total of 23 games due to injury. That does not include the seven games Pasha Bains missed at the start of the season due to the NCAA transfer rule.
Here is the injury rundown so far this year:
Clemson Recent Wins over Ranked Teams Clemson is in the middle of three straight games against ranked teams, the first time since the 1995-96 season that Clemson has played three straight top 25 teams. Clemson does not have a win over a top 25 team this year, but has recorded 14 in the last five years.
Clemson defeated N C State on January 27 for its first win over a ranked team this year. The Pack was ranked 21st in AP and 25th in USA Today entering the game. It gives Clemson a streak of 14 consecutive years with at least one win over a ranked opponent.
Recent Clemson top 25 Wins
Allenspach Records Career High Clemson center Adam Allenspach scored 24 points in Clemson’s loss to Appalachian State on January 19. That was his career high scoring effort and it was in fact the highest scoring game for a Clemson center since Sharone Wright scored 25 points at Wake Forest on Feb. 22, 1994. Allenspach connected on 7-11 field goals and 10-12 free throws.
His free throw shooting stats were also a career high. He made his last nine free throws of the game and is now shooting 71 percent from the line for the year. The native of Parkland, FL is trying to become the first Clemson center to lead the Tigers in free throw shooting since Ed Brinkley shot 77.8 percent in 1956-57. That is the only free throw shooting percentage over 75 percent for a season by a Clemson center in history.
Allenspach has had five straight double figure scoring games and is averaging 16.0 points per contest over the last five games. He had 12 points and seven rebounds in the win over NC State.
Solomon’s Outburst vs. Virginia 4th Best Scoring Game in NCAA Will Solomon 43 point scoring game against Virginia on January 15 ranks in a tie for the fourth highest scoring game in the nation this year. The top figure is the 61-point outing by Eddie House for Arizona State against California on January 8th. Solomon’s point total against the Cavs is the highest by a college player in the South or east. House actually has the top two scoring games htis year. Solomon’s point total tied Courtney Alexander (ironically a former Virginia player) who scored 43 for Fresno State against UAB on December 11.
Solomon was ranked 11th in the nation in scoring entering games of this past Tuesday. No Clemson player has finished the season in the top 10 in scoring since Bill Yarborough was fourth in 1954-55 with a 28-point average.
Highest Scoring Games in Division I 1999-2000
Scott Absence Affects Turnovers Clemson had struggled in terms of turnovers the last three games prior to the NC State game, committing 60 in losses to Virginia, Appalachian State and Maryland. Starting point guard Edward Scott had been out of the lineup due to a cartilage injury in his chest, an injury he suffered at Florida State. Prior to Scott’s injury, Clemson had gone six straight games committing 15 turnovers or less. The Tigers averaged 12.2 turnovers a game during that stretch with Scott in the lineup. With Scott back for the NC State game, Clemson had just 15 turnovers.
In the six games Scott has missed this year due to injury, Clemson has committed 107 turnovers, 18 per game. In the games he has been in the lineup, Clemson has averaged 14.8 turnovers a game.
Scott’s presence affects Will Solomon turnover total. In the six games Scott has not played, Solomon has 33 turnovers, 5.6 per game, including 19 in the last three games when Solomon has to double up as shooting guard and point guard. In the 12 games Scott has played, Solomon has 45 turnovers, 3.4 per game.
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